The Physics Classroom

Refraction and Ray Model of Light - Chapter Outline

Lesson 1: Refraction at a Boundary

  1. Boundary Behavior
  2. Refraction and Sight
  3. The Cause of Refraction
  4. Optical Density and Light Speed
  5. The Direction of Bending
  6. If I Were an Archer Fish

Lesson 2: The Mathematics of Refraction

  1. The Angle of Refraction
  2. Snell's Law
  3. Ray Tracing and Problem-Solving
  4. Determination of n Values

Lesson 3: Total Internal Reflection

  1. Boundary Behavior Revisited
  2. Total Internal Reflection
  3. The Critical Angle

Lesson 4: Interesting Refraction Phenomena

  1. Dispersion of Light by a Prism
  2. Rainbow Formation
  3. Mirages

Lesson 5: Image Formation by Lenses

  1. The Anatomy of a Lens
  2. Refraction by Lenses
  3. Image Formation Revisited
  4. Converging Lenses
    1. Ray Diagrams
    2. Object-Image Relations
  5. Diverging Lenses
    1. Ray Diagrams
    2. Object-Image Relations
  6. The Mathematics of Lenses

Lesson 6: The Eye

  1. The Anatomy of the Eye
  2. Image Formation and Detection
  3. The Wonder of Accomodation
  4. Farsightedness and its Correction
  5. Nearsightedness and its Correction